1. Panel:
Innovation Insights from Brazil
Global Innovation & sustainability in Brazil
Dr Breno Nunes
b.nunes@aston.ac.uk
Aston Business School, UK
IAMOT Conference, Washington, DC, USA
26 May 2014

2. OBJECTIVES
• Raise issues on doing innovation in Brazil
• Debate the Brazilian innovation context and its role in globalisation &
sustainability
• Discuss the threat & opportunities for Brazil to flourish as global sustainable
innovator
Dr Breno Nunes / May 2014
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3. BRAZIL’S INNOVATION ECOSSYSTEM
• STRENGTHS
– Cheap skilled labour > Human
capital -> young population
– Good overall respect to IPR
– Increasing number of innovation
grants and funds
– Emergence of global champions
– Leading technological
development in key areas: Energy,
Agriculture & livestock (food
security), aerospace (market
niche), automotive, Finance, etc
– Good penetration of ICT
infrastructure
• WEAKNESSES
– Lack of global awareness (few born-
global SMEs)
– Bureaucracy of funding bodies
– Deficient infrastructure & cost of doing
business in Brazil
– Shortage of skills in some areas
– Weak institutional environment
(infrastructure, legal systems, etc)
– Low productivity across key sectors
– Low “sense of urgency” promotes a
number of missing opportunities
Dr Breno Nunes / May 2014
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4. Product
• 1st ‘real’ Plane
• Flex-fuel
engines
• Mobile
payments
• Soya for low
lattitude
• Instagram?
Marketing
• Market
niches: small
aircrafts
• Construction
in Africa
Organizational
• Modular
Consortium
Process
• Deep-water
drilling
• Financial
services (IT
processes)
Oslo Manual, 2005
EXAMPLES OF BRAZILIAN INNOVATIONS
Dr Breno Nunes / May 2014
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5. The Innovation Race - BRICS
5Source: Fu et al (2011)
Dr Breno Nunes / May 2014
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6. Growth rate of patent applications
6
Trend in patent applications at the top 20 offices
(Source: WIPO Statistics Database, October 2011)
Dr Breno Nunes / May 2014
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7. The Innovation Race in 2009
7
Number of triadic patent families per million inhabitants, 2009.
Source: (Guloglu, 2012) Economic determinants of technological progress in
G7 countries: A re-examination. Economics Letters, vol 116, 3, pp604-608
Dr Breno Nunes / May 2014
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8. The Innovation Race 2010
8
World Bank, 2010
Apud Fu,2011Dr Breno Nunes / May 2014
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9. Complex and discrete technologies
9
(Source: WIPO Statistics Database, October 2011)
Dr Breno Nunes / May 2014
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10. Knowledge Production and Innovation – BRICS - Ratio between Indicators.
FINDINGS FROM NITEC/UFRGS/BRAZIL (with THANKS to Paulo!)
Brazil Russia India China South Africa
Population / Papers 15,927 10,131 62,308 18,157 17,464
Intelectual Property Revenues /
Patents
125,654 32,761 34,159 1,788 100,152
R&D/Patents 3,720,844 527,400 1,490,355 3,186,334 2,889,021
Manufacture Exports / Patents 17,864 3,803 21,139 4,259 59,945
Exports / GDP 11,37% 25,91% 16,45% 23,07% 25,51%
Imports / GDP 11% 16% 25% 21% 32%

11. BRAZIL’S THREATS & OPPORTUNITIES
• THREATS
– Bad global image/reputation if
World Cup & Olympics 2016 go
wrong
– Threat of old competitors & the
“natural” growth of new
competitors like China and India
– New “kids” on the block,
unexpected competitors for FDI?
Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam,
Egypt, Turkey, South Africa
– New disruptive technologies: new
generation of ethanol and biofuel
from algae
– Abundance (of natural resources,
domestic market, etc) as a resource
curse
• OPPORTUNITIES
– Global Challenges for food security
and energy – the key innovation
competences of Brazil in
Commodities markets can help to
solve them
– Exponential gains by doing the
basics as Brazil’s is in its early stages
of being a global player
– Creation of a global network of
expats
– Western Latin culture & Portugal:
front door to Western & European
Market? Or a Threat?
– New markets –are the former
Portuguese colonies the Brazilian
“blue ocean” ? Angola,
Mozambique, Cape Verde
Dr Breno Nunes / May 2014
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12. Panel:
Innovation Insights from Brazil
Global Innovation & sustainability in Brazil
Dr Breno Nunes – b.nunes@aston.ac.uk
Aston University, UK